Sunday, 4 November 2012

Book #30

Fables: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham

When a savage creature
known only as the Adversary conquered the fabled lands of legends and
fairy tales, all of the infamous inhabitants of folklore were forced
into exile. Disguised among the normal citizens of modern-day New York,
these magical characters have created their own peaceful and secret
society within an exclusive luxury apartment building called Fabletown.
But when Snow White's party-girl sister, Rose Red, is apparently
murdered, it is up to Fabletown's sheriff, a reformed and pardoned Big
Bad Wolf (Bigby Wolf), to determine if the killer is Bluebeard, Rose's
ex-lover and notorious wife killer, or Jack, her current live-in
boyfriend and former beanstalk-climber.

I'm a beginner in the graphic novel arena, and was always slightly ashamed
of being so. Fables was given to me by someone who thought (based on my
literary loves) I would enjoy it; and I really did. As it was my first foray
into the illustrated world, I have nothing to compare it to, nor can I pretend
to be well-versed in what a graphic novel is supposed to look or feel like. I
have never appreciated illustrations in novels, preferring to concentrate on
nuances in the literature. I was blown away, however, by the severe detail
involved in every panel, not to mention the way the story carried itself
through these brightly coloured pages.

Fairy tale folks interest me greatly, and the premise of this story is very attractive
to me. The very idea of these people of ancient folklore living, breathing and
strolling around New York is just absolutely delicious. I realise this is a
series, and more will develop as I delve into the rest of them, but Legends
in Exile turned into a bit of a stale murder mystery.

The characters are brilliant as we already know a little of them from
hearing widely repeated fairy tales throughout our lives. Willingham gives them
all more of an edge, however, almost humanising them, and showing us their
issues and flaws, rather than focusing on their beauty or riches as the age-old
fables do.

I like to learn about life subsequent to the 'happily ever after's, and it
seems to be filled with divorce, financial scams, and misery. Who would've thought
their lives would be filled with such hardship after their incredibly happy
endings only centuries before?

The second book in the series is now waiting for me. I'm hoping the plot
will progress into something more satisfying than this. I would definitely
recommend graphic novel beginners to pick this up; it's fact paced and quite
exciting, and pages seeped in colour makes a nice change to black print on
white.